CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – St. Paul’s Memorial Church is seeking Episcopal students at The University of Virginia to apply for Episcopal Church Leadership Scholarships.
The Rev. Dr. Peter Kang, UVA chaplain at St. Paul’s said up to $300,000 in $5,000 and $20,000 annually renewable scholarships are available for Episcopal undergraduate and postgraduate students.
“The Idea is to help support students envisioning becoming future leaders within the church in a lay or ordained capacity,” Kang said.
As the official Episcopal chaplaincy at UVA, St. Paul’s is designated by the university to select recipients of the scholarship restricted to Episcopal students.
Since 2015, St. Paul’s has awarded $1.8 million in scholarships to Episcopal students attending The University of Virginia who are active and involved in Episcopal Church.
“Special consideration will be given to applications that we received before May 1st, although after May 1st, we will receive applications on a rolling basis and continue to award scholarships,” Kang said.
“We’re encouraging people to apply before May 1st, but we understand that some people might not know that they’re coming to UVA by then or might not know about the scholarships. So, as long as there’s still money in the pot, will continue to receive applications and disperse funds,” he said.
Kang said the ongoing scholarships, funded by interest from an endowment, is for students who demonstrate a high level of commitment to, and involvement with, the Episcopal Church.
$5,000 renewable scholarships are intended for UVA students who agree to volunteer in some capacity in their church or community “beyond just attending on Sunday morning,” Kang said. “So they could be in the choir, teaching Sunday school or volunteering in the community.”
$20,000 renewable fellows program scholarships require a greater commitment, Kang said. “The fellows program is for a smaller, more select group of students.”
“The first year they will be meeting biweekly for theological formation and some field site visits to be exposed to and experience a variety of different types of ministry, worship, and leadership in the Episcopal Church.”
“After the first year scholarship fellows will be expected to take more active leadership roles in our student ministry and design their own ministry projects with supervision and support from our church,” Kang said.
For more information, contact Rev. Kang at peter.kang@spmcuva.org or 434-295-2156.